By Takeover Analyst:Takeover talk generates a lot of buzz in the market as investment bankers and investors get excited for fast money. Why investors and investment bankers? Well, investors get an immediate return on their investment and investment bankers get large transaction fees. The M&A market has seen an increase in interest this week after Facebook's (FB) $1 billion acquisition of Instagram, a fun, popular photo-sharing app for mobile devices. If that wasn't enough, Facebook's initial public offering is expected to take place next month so it's a hot time, to say the least, in the M&A markets. Digging deeper into the press release, Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook and Instagram "complement each other" and that is one reason why acquisitions are done. That same reason is why Sunpeaks Ventures (SNPK.OB) could be attractive for potential acquirers. For some background, Sunpeaks Ventures and its wholly owned subsidiary Healthcare Distribution Specialists ("HDS") isComplete Story »

The richest people on Earth got richer in 2014, adding US$92 billion to their collective fortune in the face of falling energy prices and geopolitical turmoil incited by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The net worth of the world’s 400 wealthiest billionaires on Dec. 29 stood at US$4.1 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s richest.

It should come as no surprise that internet giant Facebook Inc. (FB) has acquired WhatsApp, a messaging start-up, soon after the company’s attempted acquisition of Snapchat failed late last year. Facebook has been trying to enter the mushrooming chat-app market, due to the increased penetration of smartphones, and no messaging service could have been a better option than WhatsApp.

One of the stranger mysteries of Facebook's $1 billion acquisition of Instagram is this: Why does Facebook allow Instagram to use Foursquare for photo-location services when Facebook has its own location app, Check In?

The messaging and photo-sharing app Snapchat has reportedly declined an offer from Facebook to purchase the company for about $3 billion in cash, according to the Wall Street Journal. Unnamed sources familiar with the matter told the Journal that the company’s co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel is optimistic that the app’s growing number of users and message volume would warrant an even higher valuation at a future point in time. Though a company spokesperson refused to comment, the sources said he would probably not consider acquisition offers until early 2014.

The messaging and photo-sharing app Snapchat has reportedly declined an offer from Facebook to purchase the company for about $3 billion in cash, according to the Wall Street Journal. Unnamed sources familiar with the matter told the Journal that the company’s co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel is optimistic that the app’s growing number of users and message volume would warrant an even higher valuation at a future point in time. Though a company spokesperson refused to comment, the sources said he would probably not consider acquisition offers until early 2014.